The present invention relates to a camera with a condition indication facility and more specifically to a camera having a facility of indicating shaky conditions of a camera body.
Hitherto, various cameras are known that have a facility of indicating their current conditions. For example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 5-313241 discloses a technique of detecting a shaky condition of a camera body and indicating the detected current shaky condition in the form of line segments within the viewfinder. This provides a two-dimensional indication that changes display states including the direction of a camera shake.
A general method of indicating shaky conditions of the camera body is to indicate a shaky condition within the viewfinder so as to allow the photographer to know that condition while looking through the viewfinder. In general, the shutter speed, the aperture setting, and the autofocus (AF) condition are also indicated in addition to the shaky condition.
A technique has also been known by which a shaky condition indication means is added to an existing camera body, that is, a technique to adds an indication means around the viewfinder with some means.
However, the technique disclosed in the aforementioned Patent Publication has problems that, due to the complex two-dimensional (XY) indication within the viewfinder, the viewfinder optical system becomes complex and the camera increases in size. In addition, if priority were given to the shake indication area within the viewfinder, the subject image within the viewfinder would have to be reduced in size or the shake indication area and the subject image would overlap each other, resulting in a disadvantage of the subject image becoming difficult to view.
With the aforementioned general shake indication method, to indicate a plurality of items of information within the viewfinder there are constraints in space for light emitting means, the optical system, and so on. In addition, when the information indication is concentrated in a small area, the information becomes difficult to view.
The aforementioned technique to add the shaky condition indication means to existing camera bodies, while being physical possible, requires the viewfinder optical system and the indication control system to be changed considerably in mechanism. From the point of view of size and cost, therefore, it is not a practical technique.